Ireland

Birth of film star Greer Garson in Co. Down

Poet, educator and eventual Easter Rising rebel Patrick Pearse opens St. Ednas school for boys (Scoil Eanna)

On 8 September 1908, Patrick Pearse — poet, educator, and future Easter Rising leader — opens St. Enda’s School for Boys (Scoil Éanna) in Rathfarnham, Dublin.

Birth of Niall Ó'Dónaill, Irish-language scholar and lexicographer, in the Rosses, Co. Donegal

Birth in Dublin of Mervyn Wall, writer who wrote under the pseudonym of Eugene Welply

Roger McHugh, born

Roger Joseph McHugh (24 July 1908 – 2 January 1987) was an Irish academic, author, playwright, politician and Irish Republican. He was educated Our Lady’s Bower, Athlone; Synge Street CBS, Dublin and University College Dublin (UCD).

Birth of Vincent Barry, organic chemist, in Cork

Sinn Fein contests its first election, County Leitrim

Jimmy Shand, Scottish country dance band leader, born

Jimmy Shand, a renowned Scottish musician and band leader, was born on January 28, 1908, in East Wemyss, Fife, Scotland. He was a key figure in popularizing Scottish country dance music, both in the United Kingdom and internationally.

The 1st Glasgow Scout troop was registered, the first to be formed

The 1st Glasgow Scout Group in Scotland holds the earliest known registration certificate, dated 26 January 1908, issued by The Boy Scouts Association. The Group was formed from the Glasgow Battalion of the Army Cadet Corps; its Adjutant was Captain Robert E Young.

Sir Francis Leopold McClintock, British naval officer and explorer, died.

Sir Francis Leopold McClintock KCB FRS (8 July 1819 – 17 November 1907) was an Irish explorer in the British Royal Navy, known for his discoveries in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. He was born at Dundalk, Ireland, on the 8th of July 1819, of a family of Scottish origin. He entered the navy at the age of twelve, and for his conduct in recovering the Gorgon, when it was stranded near Montevideo, was promoted to a lieutenancy in 1845.